Things of That Inexplicable Nature
by yamikinoko
Summary: .TenTen. Written for the 15-pairings LJ community, featuring the weapons kunoichi TenTen in various pairings, both crack and fanon. 01: There is a soft, welcoming glow in his eyes, like the sun on delicate blossoms, but now...   .Lee/TenTen.


**Pairing**: Lee/TenTen  
**Rating**: G  
**Warning(s)**: No spoilers.  
**Disclaimer**: _I do not own __**Naruto**__. It is the property of __**Masashi Kishimoto**__; I merely borrow the characters for my own amusement.

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**Things of That Inexplicable Nature  
-Sunflower**

They are Team Gai, so they are, of course, training at this time of day.

What _is_ remarkable about this set-up is that the pair in the training grounds is not in fact composed of Rock Lee and Maito Gai, nor TenTen and Hyuuga Neji, which is the customary way their team splits up to train: the former because the two thrive on each other's inane and often inhuman methods of training; the latter simply because one needed practice deflecting pointy objects, and the other loves throwing them. No, the pair in the clearing this day is composed unusually of one Rock Lee and one TenTen.

What is even more remarkable about this unlikely duo is that both Maito Gai and Hyuuga Neji happen to be within the village limits at this time, and if that fact alone is not astonishing enough, neither is this the first time the two have met in this fashion.

It will actually be more accurate to say that this is their eighty-seventh meeting of similar circumstance, and it is the cause of no little speculation in the Hidden Village of Konoha.

"Lee, what are you doing now?" TenTen asks, brushing sweat-soaked bangs out of her face. Her green spandex-clad teammate appears to be having a marathon where he stands, arms and legs pumping furiously.

"I am running in place, dearest TenTen, for you have declined to run five hundred laps around the village with me!"

She looks at him askance, "I'm not running the equivalent of five hundred laps in the training grounds with you either. Come on, we've been training all morning and all afternoon. Let's go grab a late lunch—I'm starving."

"But TenTen! If I do not run in place for two hours at least, then I shall have to do two thousand finger pushups, and if I fail to do that, then I must cut twenty thousand logs of wood and carry them up Hokage Mountain, and if I must do that, my youthful blossom, I shall not be able to—"

"I'm not a blossom," she retorts, so used to Lee's over-the-top self-imposed rules that they didn't even merit a response anymore. A beat, "I thought Sakura was your blossom."

"That is correct!" Lee announces, beginning to display the hints of a pant as he speaks, "Sakura-san is indeed a delicate blossom while you, TenTen, are a lovely sunflower, filled with the springtime of youth!"

TenTen only rolls her eyes as he continues to run in place. Of course he would choose something as large and gawky and plain as a sunflower. Not to mention nutty—they produce sunflower seeds, don't they? Even after more than three months of meeting up to train with each other, he still sees her only as a teammate. (Cue the despondent sigh here.)

The first time they chose to train together was because Gai-sensei was out on a mission, and Neji had begun seriously training with his uncle. After that… She finds it hard to pinpoint exactly when training with the boisterous and flamboyant Lee had become more fun and preferable than training with the focused and determined (but silent) Neji. Something had clearly changed then.

Not that anything is changing now. They are going strong as training partners, but it is much like Lee running in place—he is definitely moving, definitely getting _something_ out of it, but he isn't getting _anywhere_ at the same time.

"TenTen," he puffs, drawing her from her musings. She looks up, and is surprised to find that he is closer to her than when he had first started, back near the tree about a foot away. He must have shifted about half a foot since he started. "TenTen," he begins again, "You should join me! This is a most invigorating exercise!"

She lets out a fast breath that could pass admirably for a scoff of disbelief, "I'm exhausted, and I'm starving—just looking at you makes me tired. No thanks."

A couple more moments pass in silence, broken only by his breathing as she watches him look at her, and grin, big and sparkly in the dying heat of the afternoon sun. It doesn't last.

"Lee…" she calls, perilously close to whining, "I can't wait two hours! If I wait any longer, my stomach is going to shrivel up and fall out!"

Although he does not stop, his pounding feet slow, and he looks torn, "I should not like for your stomach to shrivel and fall out, dearest TenTen! But if I stop…"

In his distress, he shifts another few inches towards her, and she jumps up (abused muscles gone stiff screaming in protest) to place her hands on his shoulders, and gently press _down_, "It's okay Lee. Let's go eat, and later, we'll do the two thousand pushups together." _Oh, what hunger forced her to do…_

At this, he does stop completely, and his grin stretches wider than before, "Really? You mean it, TenTen? You promise?"

He is thrilled, and she cannot help but smile because of it, "Yes, yes, I promise. Now let's go eat—I can feel my stomach going concave."

Lee whoops and takes her hand, tugging her out of the training ground with renewed energy. Although the echo of his excited shout soars into the air and plummets back into silence, the flipping of her stomach seems much more extreme, as though miniature Rock Lee's were turning cartwheels inside.

"…you are truly displaying your springtime of youth, dearest TenTen, and your beautiful sunflower petals…"

He is chattering nonstop in his excitement, and she listens with only half an ear and instead concentrates on the feel of his warm hand over hers. _They are moving_, she realizes. They may be running in place, but they inch forward bit by bit, even if the destination is not in sight, or set at all.

TenTen looks up and returns the blindingly white smile he is giving her, and there is a soft, welcoming glow in his unique, dark eyes that she has never noticed before, a glow like the sun on delicate blossoms, except that now, it is shining on the large and gawky and plain sunflower.

And with this, the sunflower _thrives_.

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**A/N**: I honestly can't believe I just wrote that—I never thought I'd actually write a Lee/TenTen romantic-pairing. I think the two of them are as crackish as, say, Kisame/TenTen. Not that I'm planning to include a Kisame/TenTen fic in this-here crack ensemble. Of course not….

Reviews are the utmost love!


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